


Tainted blue

by Viva_La_Revolution



Category: Voltron - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Evil Lance, Hero! Keith, Keith has fire powers, Keith is a super hero, Lance has ice powers, Lance has water powers, Lance is a super villain, Lance! villain, M/M, Modern Lance, Superhero Voltron, Superhero Voltron AU, Villain! Lance, dark lance, ice lance, lance has powers, water lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-21 08:12:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14911676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viva_La_Revolution/pseuds/Viva_La_Revolution
Summary: Supers.People who were chosen by fate to wield powers.Fuck you, fate.Sometimes, people don’t want to be special. Maybe they just want to live a normal fucking life and not be on the verge of death every day. If you can stop- that’d be great.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. Why are you here.

Supers.

People who were chosen by fate to wield powers.

Fuck you, fate.

Sometimes, people don’t want to be special. Maybe they just want to live a normal fucking life and not be on the verge of death every day. If you can stop- that’d be great.

Of course, it’d be hard to take away one’s powers when they’re permanently infused in your DNA after the government decided to give out random vaccine samples to toddlers and infants because SCIENCE. It was rare to find other supers. Yet, they’re commonly found on the wrong side of the war.

Fucking perfect.

At least some supers still have faith in humanity, and he was one of them. 

His name is Keith Kogane. He’s an 18-year-old High school senior. His superhero alias is the ‘red paladin’ to suit his teammates’. His powers give him the ability to wield fire and smoke. Handy in both combat and stealth missions. Not so handy when he gets angry or frustrated.

He was part of Voltron- an alliance made to protect their cities from supers who had turned their back on the innocent civilians. Supers who decided to join the Galra. The Galra were a group (rather large group) of supers who want to see humanity destroyed. Of supers who want power and fame in their fingertips.

He never really understood them.

============================

A cloud of gray smoke dashed through the air above the buildings, almost unnoticeable to unobservant eyes. Smoke wasn’t really a big deal in the city, seeing as though most of its factories and transportation methods rely on polluting the air with it. Which makes Keith the stealthiest man on the team.

Stepping onto a rooftop as he materialized back into his physical form, he watched the city lights and quiet atmosphere around him. Not only was he stealthy from transportation, he was also stealthy on outfit choice. A black outfit with red highlights, a black mask over his mouth. For extra secrecy, he even has a mask over his eyes. Black with red covering his eyes, but thanks to Pidge’s and Hunk’s brilliancy, he can see perfectly fine. It was handy and fashionable, really. 

He took a sharp inhale, sitting down on the ledge. He let his legs dangle off the roof as he observed the busy night city. How many gangs are below him? Muggers? Theives? Galra? Will there be any Galran supers on the run tonight? There better be, he hasn’t heard from them in a week.

“Red…?”

“Yeah, Green?”

“Cameras aren’t picking up anything, neither do heat sensors. Yellow says the streets are clear and Black wants to see if-“

“No.”

“Keith, you really need someone to watch your back. You can’t solo patrol like this.”

“I work better alone, Pidge. You know this.”

“Keith, what if you get hurt and we won’t be able to reach you on time.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

His relaxed figure stiffened at a sudden sound behind him. Footsteps. Quick Footsteps on hard cement. He wasn’t alone. He had company.

“Pidge. Pidge. Check the cameras again.”

He quickly got back up, turning to a defensive stance. His fingers flickered with orange and yellow ambers. The footsteps stopped, but he knew there was someone else with him.

“I-I can’t. KEITH THEY’RE NOT- “

Keith jumped out of the way, just in time to miss a bullet that hit the ledge. He looked to where the bullet came from before sprinting out of the way of more. He let his feet stop and his arms push forward- melting all the incoming bullets. It also set light to his surroundings. In that brief moment, he can see another black-dressed figure on top of a higher building next to his.

Readying himself, he let his teeth clench. “Who are you and what do you want?!” Classic movie question. What good does it give the main character if they ask that? Absolutely nothing.

The figure jumped down, letting his figure be seen by the moonlight. They had a skinny yet a muscled-up figure. His black suit showing off the curves on his body- from his arms to his legs. The suit itself had blue highlights- save for the purple mark on his chest.

A V shape crossing over an upside-down V- forming a small diamond in the center. A sign of the Galra. This was a high-tier Galra super. Rare, but nothing team Voltron has taken down before. Out of the hundreds they put down, he can estimate the high-tiers to around 5. They had little experience with them but that doesn’t mean he can stand on his own.

The figure placed his sniper-rifle on his back, stepping closer to the mullet. He stood his ground as the figure stalked closer. His face was covered by a black mask the covered his entire head. Seriously, how do people breathe in those.

He let his clenched fist burst aflame as he brought it up, ready to give him an early taste of hell. He still stalked forward, but when he got 4 feet from reaching him- one step was particularly louder than the rest. On instinct- Keith jumped up, narrowly missing the large spear of ice that spiked from the ground. He stumbled his way back on the rooftop, barely keeping his balance. 

“Nice reflexes.” 

Keith scowled at the man, readying into another offensive stance. “Who. The. Fuck. Are. You.” He phrased out clearly, trying to get his point across the taller male. The figure walked around him, feeling like a prey being stalked by a predator. He can practically feel the glare and his bored expression.

“I go by many names, red paladin. But I prefer the name ‘Frostbite’. I find it the best fitting name I have. You don’t realize I’m there before it’s too late. You freeze inside and you can’t do anything about it.” He stopped in front of him, looking him straight into the eye- Keith looking at blue eye shaped fabric instead of eyes. “Accurate, isn’t it?”

Keith had reached his limit. With a swipe through the air, a wave of fire shot through to him. A wall of ice blocked the fire, melting completely. With his head cocking to the side, the water puddle shot up and charged at him. Keith jumped out of the way, setting a big enough fire wave to evaporate the water mid-air.

Within seconds, more shards of ice flew up to Keith. It gave him little time to react to them, stumbling backward as he let hot flames melt them away. He made sure to make it hot enough to leave no water droplets behind.

Frostbite was ready to impale the red paladin with ice shards when something in his belt made a blinking noise. He gave a short tsk before grabbing the device. “I suppose I’ll see you around, paladin.” The name he called him was dipped in venom. He took a step back before vanishing into a white puff of smoke.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“And that guy was so fucking smug, too!” Keith complained while he gripped the straps of his backpack tighter. “Like, can someone so fucking cold and serious be this fucking smug!? He tried to fucking impale me with ice!” Who did guy think he is?

“You could say he’s…”

“Hunk I swear to god, don’t you dare – “

“Cold as ice?”

“God damnit.”

Pidge rolled her eyes at the pun. Why does she- a sophomore- hang out with two seniors? Easy- she relates to them more than the idiots on her batch. Hunk is one of the only people she can geek about electronics and robots while Keith is the only person she met in real life that’s into cryptids. She had found her people.

Well, other than the fact that the three of them are part of the same superhero team.

“You said he was a high-tier Galra super right?” She asked as she adjusted her glasses. Keith gave a weak ‘yeah’ in response. “Well, the Galra must be pretty serious to try and take us down. We haven’t seen a high-tier in like… half a year. And we always managed to defeat them.”

Keith huffed in frustration, trying to get his emotions and temper in order. “That’s the thing. He wasn’t assigned to take me down. His communicator bleeped while we were fighting. And I’m pretty sure they’re not paid by the hour. He went on some mission and I can’t even follow him because he disappeared into thin air.”

Hunk nudged his side with his elbow. “Come on, it’s not like you don’t do that either. I mean, come on. You turn into literal smoke and fly over the city. All I get is digging myself underground and making spikes of earth around as I go.”

Keith grunted when he reached his locker, team PUNK staying at his left side as he turned the combination lock. “I still can’t believe this is the first day of our last year in hell.” Keith said as he tookout his books. “I can’t wait to meet professor Iverson. Shiro told me a loooot of stories that make me wanna punch the guy.”

“Don’t actually do that.” Hunk said as he raised his hands in defense. Keith almost got expelled for accidentally burning the chemistry lab because he was being teased at by a few classmates. At least he was able to die it down to- “I wasn’t paying attention to where the Bunsen burner was burning.” He still wonders how the staff believed him.

Pidge shrugged. “Matt told me that senior high is death to some people. Professor Ryner is your Calculus teacher and she does not believe in ‘no homework’. Professor Thace, your English teacher, and Professor Ulaz, your history teacher, seem to be pretty chill. Not sure about the rest of your teachers.”

“Okay, good to know Calc is hard. That’s like- my best subject. English and history should be a breeze. As long as Iverson doesn’t fuck things up, it’ll be a good last year.” He closed his locker, surprise to see someone taking books from the locker next to him. Okay- what happened to the blonde girl who was always his locker neighbor?

Keith wasn’t going to complain, though. He looked like a new student, a foreigner to be exact. Tan skin, dark brown hair, and ocean blue eyes. He really would’ve noticed someone like him- he must be new. The new kid turned, closing his locker, before leaving to the hallway. He’ll probably go classroom searching.

Pidge smirked before elbowing Keith to the side. “Yeah, maybe it will be a good year~” She teased. Keith turned and kicked her knee. He really wouldn’t like to see his face tinted in pink. “OW!” The girl squeaked as she grabbed her knee.

But maybe she was right. Eye candy never hurt anyone, right?


	2. Where Keith meets Lance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Man, I still don’t get why I have to take this class. Spanish is literally my second language. I don’t need someone how to tell my name or ask a basic question. I’ll get an A+ regardless if I listen or not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, thanks for the positive reviews so far ^-^

4th period. Spanish. Keith’s hour to relax. He was pretty damn good at the language- granted it’s more of basic Spanish like, “Hi, my name is…” and “Good morning.” So, he can probably use this subject to prepare for Chemistry next period. Hunk said the Spanish teacher doesn’t seem to mind, looking like she’s about to retire.

His mind wondered away as he subconsciously doodled along the margins of his unused notebook. Mostly of simple cartoon doodles. Something to keep him occupied for the next hour- “Hey, those are really good.” Keith’s head shot up to meet ocean blue eyes.

The Cuban who stood next to him gave him a warm smile. “Is this seat taken? All the other free seats have sketchy looking people sitting next to them.” The mullet has forgotten how to breathe. He stared for a second or two before trying to regain control of his body.

Just say something casual, Kogane. Just say something casual. “Yeah, the seat’s free. Are you?” Nailed it-wait FUCK. “At lunch! Yeah, at lunch. Our table could use more people.” That isn’t a lie. Since their table usually consists of a food loving mechanic, a sassy tech pigeon, and a delinquent who people question why he isn’t expelled; they can use a few extra heads.

The boy sat down next to him, giving a shrug. “Yeah, sure. I can’t find good people around here. Most of them look like they’re either fuckbois, jocks, preppy girls, and genuinely bad people.” He extended his hand to Keith. “I’m Lance Mcclain, I just moved here from Cuba.”

Keith took his hand and shook it slightly. “I’m Keith Kogane. I’ve lived in this city all my life…?” This earned a snort from Lance. They both dropped their hands. Lance gave him a genuinely amused smile. 

“Man, I still don’t get why I have to take this class. Spanish is literally my second language. I don’t need someone how to tell my name or ask a basic question. I’ll get an A+ regardless if I listen or not.” 

“Wait, second? Shouldn’t it be your first language?”

“Actually, I just so happened to pick up on English first. Trust me, if English was my second language- I’d throw myself into a brick wall. Most of my cousins back at Cuba can barely make a sentence- and they’re already in college!”

Keith gave out a short chuckle. A few minutes later, the Spanish teacher walked in. The rumors he heard from Hunk before were true, she did look like she was on the verge of retirement.

===========================================

Lance and Keith walked into the cafeteria. It was full, tons of students in line for ‘food’ (if the glop of green goo they give is considered edible). In the distance, Keith can recognize two familiar heads with one unfamiliar one. Curious. 

He urged the Cuban to follow him as they walked past tables. Some gave dirty looks to Keith while others perked their interests to the boy behind him, mostly girls. Nyma has her eyes on him, which isn’t usually good. Rollo wasn’t exactly a nice person, considering the fact he’s too stubborn to dump his not-so-loyal girlfriend.

He and Rollo had a few mishaps in the past, so why stop there?

They reached the table and both of them took a seat. Beside Hunk sat another girl. She had short thick dark brown hair that reached mid neck, dark brown eyes and tan skin to match. She had large and thick silver hoop earrings that dangled on her neck. 

Pidge switched her glare from Lance to Keith before her unimpressed frown turned into a sly smirk. “So, I see Hunk’s not the only one who brought an intruder to our group,” she said sarcastically, eyebrow twitching upwards in amusement.

The mullet-haired boy glared at her before hearing Lance getting up. “S-sorry, I don’t mean to disturb anyone. I can sit somewhere else if you want.” 

Pidge’s eyes turned wide as she waved her hands frantically. “No no no! I was just kidding, you can sit with us. Most of our students are idiots and I don’t want you to tolerate them.” Lance raised an eyebrow. 

“Are you sure?” Pidge and Hunk both gave a short nod before Lance returned to his seat. “thanks for having me, I guess. I’m Lance Mcclain, I transferred here from Cuba just a few weeks ago.”

“Hunk Garrett!” 

“Katie Holt, call me Pidge.”

“Shay Bulmera!”

Lance smiled as he looked at them. These look like genuinely nice people. 

“So,” Pidge started curiously. “Why did you transfer all the way here from Cuba? Better education? Family business?”

“Actually, I moved alone. The rest of my family are back at Cuba.” Lance shrugged. “I just wanted a shot at a new life, I guess. I’ve been tired of the same old environment. Besides, here I can actually get better education.”

Shay perked up. “If you need an extra job, our family café is always open for close friend employees. It’s usually run by my uncle.”

Lance smiled awkwardly. “Thanks, but I have a hectic career as it is. I’ll keep it in mind, though.”

“Anyways, have you heard of the show ‘Big Bang theory’?” Hunk asked. 

Lance perks up. “Bazinga?”

“Yes!”

“Finally, someone with taste!”

“Awesome”

“Sheldon!”

======================================

The city buzzes with life in the night, surrounding the rooftop team Voltron has decided to take their meeting in. Four figures stand on the ledge, looking at the streets.

“This is nice. A quiet night in the city with just the four of us” The yellow and orange suited male said, the ribbons of the bandana wrapped around his eyes flying in the wind. 

Pidge hummed. “Yeah, the real world is nice to come in contact sometimes. Well, sometimes.” Her legs swayed in front of her as they dangle on the ledge. “Still, can’t believe both yellow and red got their crushes to sit with them.” The two mentioned boys made shocked and offended noises.

“I do not have a crush on Shay!”

“I’m not interested in Mcclain!’

The corner of the black paladin’s mouth perked up into a smirk. “Can’t believe my little brother is getting a boyfriend so young. I’d wanna meet him.”

Keith turned to his leader, aggravated. “SHIRO, I SWEAR-“

His threat turned dry in his mouth as the sound of a loud explosion echoed in the distance. Everyone turned to the source of the sound. It was the direction of the bank. They had the location memorized at this point.

“Go team go!” Shiro yelled as they all got up and made their way to the bank. Keith turned into a flying cloud of smoke, Pidge tapped on a piece of metal and gave it life- turning it into a flying hoverboard, Hunk hitched a ride with the small gremlin, and Shiro shooting up into the air.

Keith reaches there first, the others joining in behind him. They watched as a familiar black and blue figure jumped up, white- snowy air propelling him onto other rooftops. He didn’t appear to be holding wads of money nor valuables, but the fact that he blew up the bank didn’t cover it.

The red paladin grunts in frustration as he immediately recognizes him. “SHIT. I’D RECOGNISE THAT SUIT ANYWHERE.” The other paladins looked at him in confusion. “FROSTBITE. FUCKING FROSTBITE!”

He jumps off the building, turning into a cloud of smoke as he chased down the villain. The others, without hesitation, followed him. They took many turns, Frostbite figuring out he had unwanted company. 

The ice-wielding super propelled himself onto a taller building- one that seemed to compare as a skyscraper than all the other buildings in the city. The building of a famous company, no doubt. As the heroes gathered on the rooftop; Frostbite stood on the ledge, seemingly bored.

He walked a few steps on the borderline between cement and air, no care in the world. “You know, this is getting rather bothersome. Some of the high-tiers tell a lot of stories about you guys.” He stopped and turned his head to look at them. “Seriously, leave us in peace. We’re not doing anything bad.”

“Not doing anything bad?!” The green-cladded hero remarked, throwing her hands in the air. “You literally blew up a building and stole… whatever you stole! You risked the lives of the people in that bank. It’s up in flames!”

The galra super seemed to roll his eyes at her remark. “Please, there are no human life in the building.” He took something out of the fanny-pack attached to his side. His fingers played with the small rectangular stick in between his fingers. A flash drive. “And I was just gathering information.”

“Information?” The black hero stepped forward. “Information about what? Why do the Galra need it?” Frostbite glared at the tall man, eyes narrowing as he stopped playing with the usb that- without a doubt- held important information.

He let his hand drop to his side, usb still clutched tightly in hand. “You ask that but do you really expect a reply. How ignorant do you think I am? ‘Oh, the Galra need this information because of…’ none of your business. All I know is that I had a mission.”

They can sense a smirk playing on his lips. “And I can say that it was a mission success.” He stepped off of the building, falling off the ledge. The heroes, in instinct, ran forward- either to help Frostbite get back up or chase him, they had no idea. All they know was that his falling body turned into a snow-white cloud, blowing in the wind- disappearing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How on earth are you still reading?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He seemed to cringe out the ‘family friend’ part out of his mouth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, I'm sick as heeeck

It had been a few weeks since that incident on the rooftop. Matt and Pidge went on to find out more about Frostbite; his identity, his background, just anything before and after he joined the Galra. But for some reason, Pidge can’t access the Galra files.

It should be impossible really. The green paladin was known through the group as the one girl who hacked into national security at least 25 times a week and hasn’t been caught once. She had hacked into Galra high tier backgrounds and information before, she has had plenty of experience. 

But she can’t and that’s what frustrates her the most. Even as they walk around school to their lockers, Pidge’s eyes are locked onto her laptop- typing furiously. Hunk had set her on his shoulder so she would stop bumping into random students. Not like she cared about other humans besides her team right now, Hunk and Keith just had the human decency to do so.

They reached the final locker of their walk- Keith’s. Lance was there, taking out books of his own. He noticed his three friends and waved at them, flashing a brilliant bright grin. “Hey guys!” He greeted, his smile faltering as he noticed the dark eye bags underneath Pidge’s eyes. “Pidge… did you get any sleep? Like at all? I mean, I know you kill at Overwatch but still.”

Lance closed his locker as Keith opened his, The Cuban stepping out to meet eye contact with Hunk. He gestured to the pigeon on his shoulder. The big guy seemed to tense a little, a few bullets of sweat forming on his forehead. “Well… I uh… she’s…”

“She’s working on a project for her precalc. The teacher made it due today and Pidge only started last night.” Keith lied nonchalantly, grabbing his books from the locker. “Her precalc is at the end of the day so she’d still be on the laptop at lunch.”

The mullet-haired boy turned and noticed the slight eyebags on the tan boy’s eyes. He raised an eyebrow, both in concern and in curiosity. “And you’re one to talk. What were you doing last night.” He only noticed now that he had a dunkin donuts coffee cup in hand, still steaming hot.

He seemed to tense, but it was hardly noticeable. Hunk and (most definitely) Pidge wouldn’t have noticed, but Keith had a sharp and observant look on his crush. So, it was easy to detect the sudden stiffness. But it only lasted for a second, his hand massaging the bridge of his nose. “I… was talking to someone through the night. I guess you could say they’re a… ‘family friend’.”

He seemed to cringe out the ‘family friend’ part out of his mouth, like he was uncomfortable saying it in a way. It didn’t sit right, for Keith at least. Hunk seemed to buy his story, and Pidge was barely in the conversation. But it felt like he would be invading his privacy if he pointed it out. Maybe the dude was just a bad person?

Lance turned around to go to his class. “Welp, I’ll see you guys at lunch? Don’t overwork yourself, Pidge Podge!” His cheery voice seemed to jerk Pidge out of whatever trance she was in with her gadget since she perked up and looked at Lance. She gave him a small smile and went back to her laptop. 

After that, the tan skinned boy disappeared into the hallways. The gadget gremlin went back to her laptop, typing more. “Thanks for the save, Keith.” The raven-haired boy shrugged off the praise. 

“But seriously, what did the Galra do to their security? Only way I can hack into it is if I have a computer with direct Galra connection. My powers can’t even reach their firewall. Do you think they have a super with technology powers like me?” 

That was worrying. It was completely plausible, considering how many supers are under the Galra’s control. If they do have a tech super… could they hack through Pidge’s and Matt’s files and get information about Voltron?

Hunk shuddered at the thought, having the same thoughts as Keith apparently. “God, I hope not. That’ll give them a serious advantage.” He looked at Pidge, who had a concerned pout as she typed away on her laptop. 

======================================================

Everything was a blur for Keith, from all of the few hours of meaningless notes and lectures. It was when 4th period that had him perked up. His usual seatmate walked into the classroom and took a seat down. Keith can feel his smile grow wider as he saw Lance’s bright grin. 

Something still felt off about it, though.

“So, it’s a Friday today. Are you, Hunk and Pidge free?”

“I mean I’m free. You should ask Hunk and Pidge though. But unless the teacher’s bullshit us with homework; they’re free, too” Keith mentally high-fived himself for keeping his composure at the sudden question.

“Awesome, wanna go have laser tag with me? A friend of mine gave me these discount coupon things for the laser arena at the mall. If you want anyone else to tag along, that’d be cool- I have like… 12 at my disposal.”

“12? Damn, how long has this dude been playing laser tag to get that much from the arena?”

“Dudette, actually. Ez just really likes to dance around Axca while she goes full on black widow mode.”

“Ez, Axca? What kind of names do your friends have?”

Lance gave out a short chuckle, leaning forward onto the table. “Ez is short for Ezor, but yeah, those are their names. They’re a few colleagues at work and we hang out sometimes.”

Keith raised an eyebrow. “Are they your only friends? Well, besides the three of us?”

The Cuban gave out a shrug. “I’m a social person, Keith. I have friends everywhere.”

He gave out a chuckle of his own but realized something. ” Hey… where do you work? What is your job?”

“Oh, I work at this company. I usually do errands and stuff.” He said easily. “I’m one of the top dogs of that place, really close to our boss. Or at least our boss’ son.”

Keith gave out a smirk. “Ah, so you’re using your relationship as a chance to get a raise?”

Lance laughed. “Well, not really. It just became sort of a benefit. A gift inside a gift. They’re really nice people…” He sounded unsure at his last statement, but it barely showed. Nevertheless, Keith still noticed.

The Spanish teacher walked in, papers in hand. Goody- she has their quiz results. At least Lance gave him a couple of answers, he definitely would’ve failed otherwise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, wonder how you got all the way down.


End file.
